America in Decline: Developed World Leaving USA Behind in Life Expectancy

The headline: The United States is being left behind by much of the developed world in terms of life expectancy; 20 major countries have overtaken the United States since 1960 (main chart). Worse, life expectancy in the last two years has actually declined! According to World Bank data¹, the United States had the world’s 18^th highest life expectancy in 1960, falling to 34^th in 2016. Of those 17 major countries that had a higher life expectancy than the united States in 1960, only four—the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania—had a lower life expectancy in 2016 (see chart below). The 20 countries that have overtaken the United States include Chile, Lebanon, Cuba, Costa Rica, Portugal, and Korea; impressively, Korean life expectancy rose from 53 to 82 years from 1960–2016.

1. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN